January 20, 2012

While promoting his new album, Kisses on the Bottom, Paul McCartney has suggested that he may be involved with both the Olympics and Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee. Additionally, word has com out that he'll be hitting the stage to perform at this year's Grammy Awards. For his part, Paul has accumulated 14 Grammy Awards over the course of his career. Speaking of Kiss on The Bottom, that album will see the legendary Beatles' singer harking back to the golden era of Hollywood, bringing both old favorites and new compositions and feature him on a "deeply personal journey" singing classic American songs that inspired McCartney and bandmate John Lennon when they wrote songs for the Beatles. "When we grew up, we had my dad's or in John's case, his mother's era that we were listening to, and then when we came to write rock and roll songs, this informed the rock and roll," he explained at a press conference, noting his inspiration were people like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Fred Astaire. "Fred Astaire was just this fantastic character from that era, he's so elegant. Musically, his vocal style is very interesting...he had this little voice that I kind of wanted to get near, so I tried that and that became a little bit of a signature with this album. It's this era that I love, it's a rich era for style, music and intelligent art." Kisses on the Bottom will be released on February 7th.

Promotion for former Beatle Ringo Starr's upcoming solo album will include a "Town Hall" interview with British actor-comedian Russell Brand. Brand will interview the drummer for Sirius XM Radio, one day before Starr releases his newest album, Ringo 2012. "Town Hall With Ringo Starr" will air live from Los Angeles on Jan. 30. Music producer Don Was will moderate the interview, and Starr will perform. Brand said in a statement Thursday that he's a "massive fan" of Starr, "but like most people I am ignorant as to his life before he rose to prominence with Thomas the Tank Engine." Brand was referring to the popular children's series that Starr narrated in the 1980s. Added Brand, "Now we can unravel the enigma of Ringo." Ringo 2012 is the 17th solo album for Starr and the second he has recorded for Hip-O/UMe. Past "Town Hall" specials have featured Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Coldplay and members of Nirvana.